Inside me, there’s a war going on, an outright coup. Heart and legs and cock are all trying to make me take a step back, let him walk ahead of me, and follow him up to his office on the third floor, where I’m sure he’ll lock us in and I sincerely doubt there will beanytalking.
Brain rebels against that and is barely in control, at this point.
My phone vibrates in my hand with a text. I look down, punching in my code to unlock it—
—and Leo plucks it from my hand. We have the same model phone for work, so he knows exactly how to get into my text messages.
Of course, he could’ve unlocked my phone anyway. I use the same code I did before.
Mouth and vocal cords finally engage. “Hey, give me that!”
His jaw tenses but his thumbs continue flying over the screen, and I realize he’s likely texting his own work phone, so he’s got my new number.
When I reach for it, he turns away from me a little, obviously unconcerned I’ll be able to take the phone from him.
He’s right, of course.
“Leo,giveme back my phone!”
He finishes the text and then steps up, toward me, forcing me to take a step back on the landing or practically be pressed against him. He holds the phone over his head in his right hand, well out of my reach.
“You want it back?” His tone sounds low and dark, dangerous, and his brown eyes overflow with Sir’s energy. “Then youfollowme up to my office andtalkto me.Now.”
Anger flares within me. “Why? You didn’t want to talk to me the past few months. I heard nothing but silence from you. Message received loud and clear, by the way. But when your toyisn’twhere you expect it to be, suddenly, you’re all up in there, aren’t you? Wanting it back where it belongs, in its place?”
He blinks and his brow furrows, meaning I scored a point and caught him off-guard. “What?”
I struggle to keep my volume low. “You know damn well what I mean, Leo. I apparently haven’t so much as crossed your fucking mind until the lastthree weeks, right?Whyis that, I wonder,hmm?”
His gaze widens. “Because you fuckingdisappeared! What? I’mnotsupposed to worry when you drop off the grid and won’t return my calls and I can’t find you?”
I’m aware there’s a Secret Service agent standing right there at the landing, looking like a statue and certainly he’s wishing he could walk away, but he can’t leave his post.
At least I know he’ll keep his mouth shut.
The only way I’ll get out of this and take my phone back without talking to Leo in private is to completely knock him off-balance emotionally. “Would you have eventually letmeget that bad?”
He scowls. “What are you talking about?”
“Theboy. He came to me, in pain, desperate, and broken, and where thefuckwere you,huh? Why’d he have tosufferfor so long, Leo?”
He leans in a little, but I don’t move. “Youleftme, Jordan, if you’ll recall. I didn’twantyou to go. Ibeggedyou to stay.”
I ignore him and go for the jugular as I force myself to shift into a cool, dispassionate tone. “If you can’t take care of your toys, then you don’t deserve tohavethem.” Anger wells inside me as I remember Elliot sobbing against me onAir Force Twothat night. “I never thought you were emotionally cruel before. Guess I was wrong about that.”
Confusion now. “Whatare youtalkingabout?”
Obviously, he hasn’t yet spoken to Elliot in private. I keep my gaze on his lips, not his eyes. My true focus is on his hand holding my phone, because it’s inching downward. A little lower, and I’ll be able to snatch it back from him.
“Don’t tell me you give a shit about me. Once I wasn’t in your bed, I basically became a liability and didn’t rate your time any longer. Youignoredme, Leo. Worse? Youignoredhim.I’mthe one picking up the pieces for him becauseyoucouldn’t be bothered to do your fuckingjob.”
His voice downshifts into a threatening tone, reminiscent of the sadist, and he moves like he’s going to go around me. “You and I need to talk. Alone.Now.”
I side-step with him, blocking his path.
Because I willnothave this conversation here and now, and I want my damn phone back.
“No. I’m returning to work, Leo. You and I can talk some other time, but we arenothavinganyconversation untilyouset things right with someone elsefirst.”
